Would You Consider Flying to Space in This Affordable Rocket Ship?

At the program’s zenith, NASA’s shuttle took only a handful of trips to space every year. Jeff Greason envisions something more like Southwest Airlines for his company XCOR. His cadre of aerospace engineers is hunkered down in the Mojave Desert, working on a spacecraft prototype with a very ambitious goal: four daily, safe, round-trip flights to space, five days a week. If XCOR can succeed, they’ll take more people to space in a period of six months (and for less money) than NASA did over 30 years. Production company Freethink documents the work ofXCORin this episode from the series The New Space Race.

The Short Film Showcase spotlights exceptional short videos created by filmmakers from around the web and selected by National Geographic editors. We look for work that affirms National Geographic's belief in the power of science, exploration, and storytelling to change the world. The filmmakers created the content presented, and the opinions expressed are their own, not those of National Geographic Partners.

Know of a great short film that should be part of our Showcase? Email sfs@natgeo.com to submit a video for consideration. See more from National Geographic's Short Film Showcase at documentary.com

Would You Consider Flying to Space in This Affordable Rocket Ship?

At the program’s zenith, NASA’s shuttle took only a handful of trips to space every year. Jeff Greason envisions something more like Southwest Airlines for his company XCOR. His cadre of aerospace engineers is hunkered down in the Mojave Desert, working on a spacecraft prototype with a very ambitious goal: four daily, safe, round-trip flights to space, five days a week. If XCOR can succeed, they’ll take more people to space in a period of six months (and for less money) than NASA did over 30 years. Production company Freethink documents the work ofXCORin this episode from the series The New Space Race.

The Short Film Showcase spotlights exceptional short videos created by filmmakers from around the web and selected by National Geographic editors. We look for work that affirms National Geographic's belief in the power of science, exploration, and storytelling to change the world. The filmmakers created the content presented, and the opinions expressed are their own, not those of National Geographic Partners.

Know of a great short film that should be part of our Showcase? Email sfs@natgeo.com to submit a video for consideration. See more from National Geographic's Short Film Showcase at documentary.com